MPCA NEWS

What Are Your National Health Center Week Plans?

National Health Center Week is less than two months away and this is a great opportunity for your to highlight your Health Center and the innovations and solutions you provide to the community. Be sure to mark your calendars for August 7 - August 13!

If your event has a date(s) set, be sure to add it to the Health Center Week website. Entering your information on the national site is the best way to provide information to Members of Congress of events taking place in their home state during the August Congressional Recess.

In fact, NHCW is a perfect opportunity to invite your legislators to join in on the celebration. Whether it’s a health fair or open house, a big event or small, your Members of Congress and the state legislature are eager to learn more about the many innovative ways your Health Center serves your community.

Inviting elected officials is as easy as contacting their office to extend an invitation. A complete list of Elected Officials can be found here. If you need help determining whom to invite or in connecting with Elected Officials, contact Ryan Grinnell-Ackerman.

Last year, the NHCW Picture and Video Contest was a big hit and it's back again for 2016. The National Association of Community Health Centers will host a NHCW Contest webinar on July 20, 2016 from 3 - 4 pm ET.

There are also three themed days to recognize special populations:
August 9 - Public Housing Health Centers Day
August 10 - Health Care for the Homeless Day
August 11 - Farmworker Health Day

If your Health Center works with these special populations, hosting events on these dates is a great opportunity for additional national exposure.

Health Center Board Member Webinar Scheduled
Are you a Health Center board member? If so, you will not want to miss the upcoming webinar scheduled for June 22, 2016 from 10 - 11 am ET. The webinar, An Overview of SAC/NAP Requirements, will provide information on recent updates to the needs assessment process for both Service Area Competition and New Access Point grants.

The speaker, Joe Tran, Program Specialist, Health Center Operations, Michigan Primary Care Association (MPCA), will provide guidance on how to maximize the number of points awarded in a needs assessment, how the scoring is calculated and what assistance MPCA can offer as your organization prepares for a needs assessment.

There is no cost to attend the webinar, but advance registration is required.

MPCA's First LGBT Summit a Success

On June 13, 2016, the Michigan Primary Care Association hosted the first LGBT Summit and what a success it was!

With over one hundred people in attendance, the day focused on providing quality care to LGBT people and addressing their health needs. Topics including sexual orientation and gender identity (aka SOGI) data collection, LGBT youth, Pre-exposure Prophylaxis (aka PrEP) and transgender care were highlighted throughout the day with speakers from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Howard Brown Health Center, National LGBT Health Education Center, Affirmations, and the Michigan Department of Health & Human Services.

Thank you to all our event sponsors, speakers and attendees. Stay tuned as resources from the Summit will be available soon! Legislation to Improve Access to Dental Care Introduced

Last week, Sen. Mike Shirkey (R-Clarklake) introduced Senate Bill 1013, legislation seeking to establish licensure for dental therapists to practice in Michigan. Under the supervision of a dentist, Senate Bill 1013 will allow dental therapists to perform preventive and routine restorative procedures, such as assessments, simple cavity preparation, restoration and simple extractions, as defined by a written collaborative agreement with the supervising dentist.

In a time when millions of Michigan residents lack access to dental care, the Michigan Primary Care Association proudly supports implementing all evidence-based models of care to resolve the many barriers to access dental care, including our 2016 Policy Priority advocating in favor of dental therapists.

The bill has been referred to the Senate Health Policy Committee, where Sen. Shirkey serves as the chair. For more information, please visit midentalaccess.org or contact Ryan Grinnell-Ackerman with any questions.

Please note that you must be logged in to MPCA’s online community when registering for MPCA-hosted events to receive a discounted rate if your organization is an MPCA member. If you are subscribed to the MPCA eUpdate, you have a profile in MPCA's online community. If you have forgotten your password, please use the "forgot password" link under the sign-in box to reset your password. If you need further assistance, please contact info@mpca.net.

MPCA posts job openings at Michigan Health Center Program grantees, Michigan FQHC Look-Alikes, and MPCA active member organizations. To submit a job opening for posting in the online MPCA Career Center and in the MPCA eUpdate, email the job title, a brief overview, a bulleted list of qualifications, and instructions on how to apply to info@mpca.net with Job Posting in the subject field.

This online interactive, evidence-based CME course has been developed by a team of experts in instructional technology, online course development, primary care delivery and prostate cancer survivorship care from both College of Education and School of Medicine at Wayne State University.

The Principle Investigator of this project is Jinping Xu, MD, MS, Associate Professor at Department of Family Medicine and Public Health Sciences. There is no cost for the CME credits and participants receive 1.50 CME credits. The course is only available through the end of June 2016.

This project is funded by the Michigan Department of Health & Human Services and the Blue Cross Blue Shield Foundation. This link will take you to the course.

Public Input on Title V Block Grant Application Sought
On June 9, 2016, the Michigan Department of Health & Human Services (MDHHS) announced the public is invited to comment on the Title V Maternal and Child Health Block Grant application. Title V of the Social Security Act of 1935, as amended, provides funding to states to improve the health of mothers and children.

Additional information on the five-year assessment conducted in 2015 (including a summary), the seven priorities for the state for 2016-2020 and the eight national performance measures are included in the application narrative.

MDHHS welcomes all comments on the application which can be accessed here no later than June 20, 2016. Comments should be submitted to daviss11@michigan.gov.

CHI Registration Now Open!

Join fellow Health Centers, Primary Care Associations, Health Center Controlled Networks and health care visionaries at the 2016 Community Health Institute (CHI) and Expo. This year CHI will take place in Chicago, Illinois from August 28 - August 30, 2016.

CHI is the largest annual gathering of 2,000 Community Health Center managers, clinicians, employees, board members and leaders. At CHI, you can network, learn new skills, connect with new ideas and solutions and hear the latest information from thought leaders in the industry. CHI provides essential up-to-date information, cutting-edge onsite training sessions and technical assistance to help guide Health Center professionals through the challenges of today's new healthcare marketplace.

The Bureau of Primary Health Care released the FY 2017 Service Area Competition funding announcement for service areas with a January 1, 2017 project period. Applications are due on August 15, 2016. Additional information on the announcement and technical assistance can be foundhere.

Health Centers with a PCMH recognition by July 1, 2016 are eligible to receive the 2016 Health Center PCMH Recognition Quality Award. The award amount will be determined based upon the availability of federal funding.

If the information is correct, you do not need to take further action.

If the information is incorrect or you have other questions, please send the corrected information and/or your questions to QualityDivision@hrsa.gov, with subject heading “2016 Health Center PCMH Quality Awards.”